So the actual muscle mass gains aren't boosting ones metabolism to any large degree and what increase calorie burn is coming from the working out to gain the muscle.

What kind of calorie burn increases can one really get in the short term post heavy resistance exercise? I know personally my metabolism seems to be boosted for up to 24hours post intensive exercise and I would think there is some increased calorie burn in repairing damaged tissue caused from exercise.

My appetite definitely increases the next day or two post a very intensive lifting session and I am often feel hot that night after training. My question is whether there really is a significant calorie burn increase after a heavy resistance exercise session?

So its it the walking the road of muscle gain itself that is boosting the metabolism(while you are walking it) rather than the actual muscle gained?

Thanks... Something you mentioned in that article has me wondering if a large part of my own perception of increased metabolism post exercise might be a result of the thermic effect of the food consumed after lifting heavy.

It's possible and this has been one of the long-standing confounds in some of this research. The early studies suggesting that any exercise raised metabolic rate for 24 hours were, unknowingly at the time, measuring the thermic effect of food. IN general, they tend to try to control for this.

As well, some people get a rather pronounced impact of training on insulin sensitivity such that they get a real pronounced warmth eating in the hours after training.